Methods of and apparatus for sorting



Feb. 10, 1959 w, ALLEN ETAL 2,873,017

METHODS OF AND APPARATUS FOR 'SORTING Filed March 29, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VEN TORS A PETER WALL!" GRANT L. CAvznoza Feb. 10, 1959 P. w, ALLEN ETAL METHODS OF AND APPARATUS FOR SGRTING 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed.March 29, 1954 INVENTORS Penn W. ALLEN GRANT L. CAvsuosR BY Arronuzv Feb. 10, 1959 J ALLEN T L 2,873,017

METHODS OF AND APPARATUS FORSORTING Filed March 29, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN PETER W. ALLEN GRANT L. CAvlunsa ATTORNEY Feb; 10, 1959 P. w. ALL'EN ET AL 2,873,017

METHODS OF AND APPARATUS FOR' SORTING Filed March 29, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 BY% M Anon United States Patent METHODS OF AND APPARATUS FOR SORTIN G Peter W. Allen, Cortland, and Grant L. Cavender, Warren, Ohio, assignors to The Federal Machine and Welder Company, Warren, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application March 29, 1954, Serial No. 419,126

12 Claims. (Cl. 198-33) The present invention relates to sorting, more particularly to methods of and apparatus for magnetically sorting metallic bodies, and the principal object of our invention is to provide new and improved methods and apparatus of the character described.

As will later appear, the present invention is particularly adapted for use in sorting metal contact buttons which have been coated on one side in order to impart suitable electrical and/0r wear properties thereto.

In the manufacture of switches or the like in which such contact buttons are employed, it will readily be apparent that the buttons must be oriented in a certain direction to provide for correct assembly. In the past, sorting or orientating such buttons has presented a considerable problem since careful inspection is required to distinguish which side of the button has been coated.

The present invention provides for sorting such contact buttons by utilizing the different magnetic properties of the coated and uncoated sides. Additionally, the apparatus employed in carrying out our invention is simple, inexpensive, and foolproof in operation. These and other advantages will become apparent from a study of the following description and from the drawings appended hereto.

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming a part of this application there is shown, for purpose of illustration, embodiments which our invention may assume, and in these drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of apparatus embodying our invention,

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan View of the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the particular body which the herein disclosed embodiments of the invention are adapted to sort, and a fragmentary perspective view of a pickup member,

Figure 3a is an end view of the pick-up member,

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view of the body illustrated in Figure 3,

Figure 5 is an enlarged elevational view, partially in section, of the apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2,

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view generally corresponding to the line 6-6 of Figure 5,

Figures 7, 8, 9 and 10 are fragmentary views similar to Figure 5 but showing certain operating parts in different positions,

Figure 11 is a generally diagrammatic view illustrating the use of our invention in combination with certain assembly apparatus, and

Figure 12 is an enlarged perspective view of a modifled detail.

The present invention is adapted to sort contact buttons B (see Figures 3 and 4) which have one surface coated at b to impart suitable wearing and/or electrical characteristics thereto. As will later be described with particularity, the invention herein disclosed comprises sorting apparatus S which is illustrated in use with suitable apparatus W (see Figure 11) which is employed in assembling the buttons B with devices such as switch parts or the like.

Briefly, and with reference tb Figure 11, operation of the invention will be as follows: A quantity of buttons to be sorted will be indiscriminately placed in the hopper H from which they will gravitate to the sorting apparatus S. The sorting apparatus S will sort the contact buttons which are indiscriminately fed thereto and pass such buttons to the assembling apparatus W which may comprise a welder or the like, properly orientated for assembly into switch parts or the like.

Referring now to Figures 1, 2 and 5 through 10, the herein disclosed sorting apparatus comprises a housing 10 which has a slide 11 reciprocable within a recess 12 formed therein and the slide 11 has a portion 13 which extends outwardly of the housing. In the instant embodiment, a cam 14 is employed to effect movement of the slide 11 in one direction while any suitable means (not shown) may be employed to resiliently maintain the slide in engagement with the cam. It is to be understood, however, that the means herein disclosed for reciprocating the slide 11 is illustrative only and that any suitable well-known mechanism may be employed for this purpose.

As best seen in Figure 5 and in the position of the parts shown, the slide 11 is notched to provide a recess 15 of: a size to receive a button B and the recess extends downwardly from the upper surface of the slide and also extends transversely thereof. The upper surface of the slide is also cut away at 16 to provide a shoulder 17 for a purpose to be shown. In the position of parts shown in Figures 5 and 6 and as best shown in the latter, the housing 10 is apertured at 18 to pass a contact button. As illustrated, aperture 18 is aligned with the recess 15 for a purpose to be shown. Adjacent the aperture 18 is an elongated member 19 secured at one side of the housing 10 by any suitable means and provided with a channel 20 in which the contact buttons to be sorted are slideable. As will be clear (see Figure 11), member 19 extends from the hopper H to the sorting apparatus S and the channel 20 of the member 19 is aligned with the aperture 18 and also communicates with the interior of the hopper so that contact buttons may pass from the hopper to the channel and from the channel through the aperture 18 to the recess 15 in the slide 11.

Also aligned with the recess 15 (in the position of parts shown in Figures 5 and 6) is a rod-like member 21 which is slideable Within a bore 22 formed in the housing 10. Member 21 extends upwardly and outwardly of the housing and such outwardly extending portion is slideably supported by a bracket 23 which is suitably secured to the housing. In the present embodiment, member 21 is normally held in the position wherein its lower end is flush with the upper margin of the recess 12 by means of a spring 2d which is interposed between the housing 10 and a shoulder 25 which is structurally integral with the member 21.

Any suitable means may be employed for reciprocating the member 21; for example, the uppermost portion of the member 21 may engage a rotatably mounted cam 26 as shown. Means are provided for magnetizing the member 21; accordingly, a magnet 27 of either the electric type or permanent type is so positioned as to effect magnetization of the member 21.

Referring particularly to Figures 1, 6 and 11, an elongated member 28 is secured at the side of the housing It) opposite to that at which the member 19 is secured by any suitable means and as illustrated in Figure 11, member 28 is preferably divided, at a point spaced from the housing 10, into two portions 28a and 28b which are formed to provide respective channels 29 and 30 each aligned with a respective aperture 31, 32 formed in the housing 10. In the embodiment shown in Figure 11, portion 28b of member 28 is arranged to guide buttons B from the sorting apparatus S to the assembling apparatus W while portion 28a of the member 28 is arranged to guide buttons B from the sorting apparatus and to discharge such buttons to a conveyor mechanism or the like C which will return such discharged buttons to the hopper H.

As previously mentioned, slide 11 is reciprocable within the housing 10, and channel 30 of the member 28 and aperture 32 are so positioned that they will be aligned with the recess 15 of the slide 11 when the slide is in the position shown in Figure 8. Also, channel 29 of member 28 and aperture 31 will be aligned with cut-away portions 16 and shoulder 17 when the slide is in such position.

Operation of theapparatus thus far disclosed will now be described, it being understood that housing 10, slide 11, and members 19 and 28 are preferably formed of a suitable, nonmagnetic material: As best shown in Figure 11, the sorting apparatus S will preferably be so positioned that the members 19 and 28 are inclined with respect to the horizontal so that the buttons B will gravitate along the channels formed in these members.

- A quantity of buttons to be sorted will be placed in the hopper H from which they will gravitate along the channel 20 of the member 19. As will be understood, the leading button will enter the housing 10 through the aperture 18 and with the slide 11 in the position shown in Figures 5 and 6, this button will come to rest in the recess 15 of the slide.

With the earns 14, 26 being rotated in the direction indicated in Figure 5 by any suitable means, the member 21 will be moved downwardly into momentary engagement with the button by means of the cam 26 (see Figure 7). Assuming that the coated surface [2 of the button is uppermost, the magnetic attraction of the member 21 will be insufiicient to cause the. button to become attracted thereto. Accordingly, when the spring 24 returns the member 21 to the position shown in Figure 5, the button will remain seated in the recess 15.

As the lobe of cam 14 comes into engagement with slide 11, the slide will be shifted from the position shown in Figure 5 to the position shown in Figure 8. With the slide 11 in this position, the button in the recess 15 will be aligned with aperture 32 and the button will therefore gravitate along the channel 30 in the member 28 to the assembling apparatus W.

As the cam 14 continues to rotate, the slide 11 will be returned to the position shown in Figure 5 by the means hereiubefore mentioned but not herein shown. With the slide in the position shown in Figure 5, another button will gravitate into the recess 15 and the cam 26 will once again move the member 21 downwardly into momentary engagement with the button in the manner hereinbefore disclosed. Assuming that the button now in the recess 15 has its uncoated side uppermost, the button will be attracted by the member 21 and will be raised to the position shown in Figure 9 when the member 21 retracts. Although not shown, any suitable means may be employed to prevent the next button from sliding into the recess 15 until the slide 11 has completed another stroke.

With the button being held in the position shown in Figure 9, and with continued rotation of the cam 14, the slide 11 will be moved once again toward the position shown in Figure 8, shoulder 17 will engage the button which has been attracted by the member 21 and strip it from this member (see Figure 10). Continued movement of the slide 11 to the position shown in Figure 8 will carry the button into alignment with aperture 31 and the button will thereupon gravitate through this aperture and along the channel 29 of the member 28 to the 4 conveyor at C which will return the button to th hopper H.

The foregoing cycle will be repeated as long as the ap paratus remains in operation, the buttons being discharged from the sorting apparatus along one or the other of the channels 29, 30 as hereinbefore described.

In the embodiment fragmentarily shown in Figure 12, the conveyor C is eliminated and the portion 28a of the member 28 is replaced by portion 280. Portion 28c is similar to portion 28a in that it is formed to provide a channel for guiding the buttons from the sorting apparatus S; however, portion 28c is twisted 180 at 33 in order to invert the buttons and this portion guides the buttons from the sorting apparatus S to the assembling apparatus W. It will thus be apparent that because of the 180 twist of the portion 280, the buttons delivered to the assembling apparatus by this portion will be orientated in the same direction as those delivered by the portion 28b.

The lower end of rod-like member 21 is formed to provide a plurality of contact engaging surfaces, each having limited surface engagement with a contact button. As best seen in Figures 3 and 3a, the lower end of the member 21 is bored inwardly and crosswise saw cuts are made to provide three contact fingers 21a spaced-apart approximately degrees.

Each contact finger 21a provides a small area engageable with the contact button and since the fingers are equi-distantly spaced, firm, non-tilting engagement with the contact button may be effected. The small contact area provided by each finger concentrates the electromagnetic force of the magnet 27 and thus increases the selectivity of the apparatus. Since the coating b (see Figure 4) of the contact button B may be very thin, it has been found preferable to form the lower end of the member 21 with limited contact surface; otherwise, suflicient electromotive force may be transmitted by the member 21 to pick up the contact button regardless of which face is directed toward the lower end of the member 21.

In view of the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that we have accomplished at least the principal object of our invention and it will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments herein described may be variously changed and modified, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention is capable of uses and has advantages not herein specifically described, hence it will be ap preciated that the herein disclosed embodiments are illustrative only, and that our invention is not limited thereto.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for sorting bodies which have two or more surfaces differing in magnetic properties, comprising means providing two spaced-apart stations, a member having spaced portions one or the other of which is engageable with said body, said member being shiftable from a first position wherein said portions are adjacent said stations to a second position wherein said portions are spaced from said stations, magnetic means aligned with one of said portions in the second position of said member, said magnetic means being shiftable transversely of said member toward and away from said one portion and providing a magnetic field of sufiicient strength to attract said body disposed at said one portion and displace it therefrom and support it adjacent said other portion in the event said body is disposed in a certain manner at said one portion, and means for shifting said member to said first position to engage said body with said one or the other portions of said member to transfer said body to one or the other of said stations depending upon whether said body was attracted by said magnetic means.

2. Apparatus for'sorting magnetic bodies comprising means providing a body sorting station and a pair of body discharge stations spaced from said sorting station, magnetic means disposed adjacent said sorting station for subjecting abody disposed thereat to a magnetic field,

and a carriage engageable with "said 'bodytor's'hifting it from said sorting station to one or the other of said discharge stations depending upon the effect of said magnetic field upon said body.

3. Apparatus for sorting magnetic bodies omprising means providing a sorting station at which the bodies to be sorted are receivable and a pair of body discharge stations spaced from said sorting station, magnetic means disposed adjacent said sorting station for subjecting a body disposed thereat toa magnetic field and for shifting said body from its received position at said sorting station to another position thereat depending upon the effect of said magnetic field upon said body, and a shiftable carriage for transferring said body from said sorting station to one or the other of said discharge stations depending upon the position of said body at said sorting station.

4. Apparatus for sorting magnetic bodies comprising means providing a sorting station at which the bodies to be sorted are receivable and a pair of body discharge stations spaced from said sorting station, magnetic means disposed adjacent said sorting station for subjecting a body disposed thereat to a magnetic field and for shifting said body from its received position at said sorting station to another position thereat depending upon the effect of said magnetic field upon said body, and a shiftable carriage having spaced portions engageable with said body for transferring the latter from said sorting station to said discharge stations, one of said carriage portions engaging said body when the latter is in its received position at said sorting station and transferring said body to one of said discharge stations upon shifting of said carriage, the other of said carriage portions engaging said body when the latter is in its other position at said sorting station and transferring said body to the other of said discharge stations upon shifting of said carriage.

5. Apparatus for sorting bodies which have two or more surfaces differing in magnetic properties, comprising means providing a body sorting station at which the bodies to be sorted are receivable and a pair of body discharge stations spaced from said sorting station, magnetic means shiftable toward and away from engagement with an adjoining surface of said body positioned at said sorting station for shifting said body from its received position at said sorting station to another position thereat in the event of sufficient magnetic attraction on said adjoining body surface, and a shiftable carriage having spaced portions engageable with said body for transferring the latter from said sorting station to said discharge stations, during shifting of said carriage, one or the other of said carriage portions engaging said body depending upon the latters position at said sorting station and such shifting of said carriage transferring said body to one or the other of said discharge stations depending upon the carriage portion engaging said body.

6. Apparatus for sorting bodies which have two or more surfaces differing in magnetic properties, comprising means providing a body sorting station at which the bodies to be sorted are receivable and a pair of spacedapart body discharge stations spaced from said sorting station, magnetic means shiftable toward and away from engagement with an adjoining surface of said body positioned at said sorting station for shifting said body from its received position at said sorting station to another position thereat in the event of sufiicient magnetic attraction on said adjoining body surface, and a carriage having spaced portions one or the other of which is engageable with said body depending upon whether the latter is disposed at said received position at said sorting station or at said other position thereat, said carriage being shiftable from a first position wherein its body engageable portions are disposed adjacent said sorting station to a second position wherein its body engageable portions are disposed adjacent respective discharge stations, shifting of said carriage from said first position 6 to said second position transferringsaid body from said sorting station to one or the other of said discharge stations depending upon the carriage portion engaging said body.

7. Apparatus for sorting magnetic bodies, comprising means providing a pair of spaced-apart stations, magnetic means having a portion engageable with a surface of said body and adapted to subject the latter to a magnetic field, said body engageable portion having three spaced projections to insure solid contact between said magnetic means and said body despite irregularities in the surface of the latter and thus maximize the effect of said magnetic fieid upon said body, means for effecting relative movement between said body and said magnetic means so as to position said body within the range of said magnetic field, and means for transferring said body to one or the other of said stations depending upon the magnetic force exerted upon said body.

8. Sorting mechanism for disc-like bodies, each body having a magnetic attractable side and an opposite nonattractable side, said mechanism sorting said bodies in accordance with predetermined disposition of one of said sides and comprising a member movable between body receiving and body discharging positions, said member in body receiving position having a portion for receiving and supporting a body disposed indiscriminately with respect to its sides, and magnetic means movable toward and away from a side of the received body and attracting the same when such side is magnetic and displacing it from its said supported position, movement of said member to said body discharging position releasing the body to any one of two discharge stations selectively in accordance with the supported and attracted disposition of said body.

9. The construction according to claim 8 wherein said bodies are fed from a hopper to said member and wherein the bodies from one discharge station are returned to said hopper.

'10. The construction according to claim 8 wherein both discharge stations have guides extending therefrom and leading to an apparatus in which said discs are used, one of said guides providing for inversion of said discs during travel from its discharge station to said apparatus.

11. Sorting mechanism for disc-like bodies, each body having a magnetic attractable side and an opposite nonattractable side, said mechanism sorting said bodies in accordance with whether one or the other of said sides is uppermost and comprising a member movable between body receiving and body discharging positions, said memher in body receiving position having a portion for re ceiving a body and supporting it with either side disposed uppermost, magnetic means movable toward and away from the uppermost side of said body and attracting said body and lifting it from supported position when such side is attractable, movement of said member to said body discharging position providing for release of a supported body to one discharge station, said member having means operable during its movement to body discharging position to disengage and move an attracted body from said magnetic means to another discharge station.

12. Sorting mechanism for disc-like bodies, each body having a magnetic attractable side and an opposite nonattractable side, said mechanism sorting said bodies in accordance with whether one or the other of said sides is uppermost and comprising a housing having a longitudinal chamber and a body inlet opening on one side communicating with said chamber, said housing also having a pair of offset, lower and upper discharge openings on its other side communicating with said chamber and spaced longitudinally thereof, a slide member reciprocable within said chamber between body receiving and body discharging positions, said slide member having a pair of offset lower and upper supporting surfaces which align with respective discharge openings when said slide member is in body discharging position, said body inlet opening aligning with said lower supporting surface when said with either side uppermost on said lower supporting surface, and magnetic means movable toward and away from the uppermost side of a supported body and attracting and lifting such body to a level of the upper supporting surface when such uppermost side is attractable, movement of said slide member to body discharging position providing for release of a body supported on said lower surface to its corresponding lower discharge opening, said slide member having a shoulder operable during its movement to body discharging position to disengage an attracted body from said magnetic means for disposition on said upper supporting surface and movement to said upper discharge opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Tjerneld Mar. 3, 1896 'Allen Nov. 2, 1897 Bowden Oct. 17, 1939 Abbott Oct. 29, 1946 Kirsch et al. Apr. 1, 1947 Griifin Aug. 17, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Oct. 17, 1933 Germany Oct. 16, 1941 

